


Happiness With Who?

by candicewestallen



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Multi, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-04-30 07:57:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14492397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candicewestallen/pseuds/candicewestallen
Summary: Hi! So, this was my first time ever writing smut. I hope it wasn't horrible. But if it was, please cut a homegirl some slack. I have no clue what I am doing.





	1. Chapter 1

I sat in my apartment bathroom, staring at the object in my hand. I felt my cheeks burning a deep shade of red as tears formed in my eyes. So many thoughts were running through my head. _What am I going to do? How do I tell everyone? What does this mean for me? And for the show?_ As I was sitting there in silence, I heard a knock on the bathroom door, followed by Danielle's voice, "Hey, Candice? Everything alright? Carlos, LA, Grant, Tom, and I have been waiting for you downstairs for twenty minutes. We're supposed to be at dinner in five minutes."

 "I'm not feeling well," I said softly and covered the object with toilet paper in the garbage can. I washed my hands and reapplied my makeup quickly before opening the door, forcing a fake smile, "I think I'll just stay in."

 "Okay... You sure you'll be good on your own?" Danielle asked and gave me a concerned look. I shrugged and nodded my head before she continued to talk, "LA and I will come check on you when we all get back."

"N-no, it's okay." I said and smiled softly, "I think I'll come with. I know that LA has been looking forward to this dinner with everyone. It's the least I can do for her when I-," I cut myself off immediately.

"You what?" Danielle asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, never mind." I said and smiled, grabbing my purse. We made our way down to the lobby and my heart sank when I saw the two of them. I forced a smile and said hi to LA before standing with Danielle quietly. I earned a dirty look from LA that she kept hidden from Grant’s sight. If she’d known what I knew, she’d have every right to make that face at me. Why was she upset with me without knowing anything?

We got into the SUV to drive to dinner and halfway through the ride there, Grant came and sat by me, "Everything okay? You seem off. You love being around the cast."

"I don't like being around new people. You know I am introverted," I whispered, partially telling the truth, but mostly just making up an excuse. We were both introverted and knew it about each other, so I knew he would most likely believe me.

"If you want, I can have LA come over here and talk to you. She's a great person, she'd love to become friends with you," Grant said and smiled lightly.

I shook my head and sighed, "No, Grant. I don't need or want that. I just want you all to leave me alone!" I snapped and regretted it as soon as everyone looked over at me.

"She's not feeling well," Danielle said immediately. I bit my lip and looked out the car window, avoiding the fact that Grant was still sitting next to me. I felt his hand over mine and sighed. I looked at him with a death glare and for a split second he looked genuinely terrified.

"We can talk later? Away from everyone else. You know I'm always here for you. And I can tell when you're sick. You're not sick. Something is on your mind," He said and got up, going to go sit by LA again. Yet again, she gave me a dirty look. I rolled my eyes and stared out the window, letting out a deep sigh.

\-----

At dinner, I still remained mostly quiet. I didn't have much of an appetite at all and every time I took a bite of food, I felt nauseous. I could tell that everyone was concerned, but I didn't say anything and minded my own. Throughout the dinner, Grant kept kicking my foot lightly under the table, trying to get me to smile or laugh. His many attempts at that failed and eventually he got up and pulled me into the lobby area of the restaurant, "Candice, please talk to me. I hate seeing you this upset. Please. You know you can tell me anything."

"Just like you can tell LA nothing, right? It must feel good to cheat on your fiancée and leave her in the dark," I snapped, finally blowing my fuse.

"Candice, please. Not here," He whispered.

"So now I can't tell you anything? At least not when it might ruin your relationship. But really, you've already ruined it for yourself..." I said and felt tears rolling down my cheeks, "I want nothing more than for you to be happy, but I can let you in on a little secret... You're not going to find that happiness with her."

"What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, getting more upset, “Candice I don’t really think any of my happiness, especially with my fiancée is any of your business to decide or worry about. I am happy and she is happy. Why can’t you just let me be happy? What difference does it make? Literally none. What the fuck is the big deal?”

I took a step back as tears started rolling down my face. Grant nearly never yelled at anyone, especially me. “Nevermind," I whispered and turned around, "Tell everyone that I'm not feeling well and I am getting an Uber back to the apartment building." I opened my phone and scheduled an Uber before sitting on a bench to wait. I wiped my tears away as I heard footsteps approaching me. I looked up to see Carlos standing there.

"Do you need a hug?" He asked, "Grant sent me out here to go back to the apartment with you. He wanted to, but I guess you blew up on him. We all want to keep an eye on you and make sure that you're doing alright."

I shook my head and laughed sadly, “I blew up on him? He blew up on me, Carlos! He wouldn’t leave me alone so I let the truth out and I may have been a little sassy about it, but he deserved it. I wish I could tell LA about everything that happened between Grant and I. But I can't. It's not my place to tell her. But he'll never be honest with her about that. And he needs to soon," I said softly as my Uber arrived.

"Why does he need to soon?" Carlos asked as we got into the car. I shook my head and shrugged.

"He just does." I said and sighed, "Otherwise it'll all blow up in his face worse than he could imagine."

Carlos opened his mouth, but didn't say anything for a few seconds, "Well, I hope that everything turns out okay."

We arrived at the apartment building and went up to my apartment. I washed my face and changed into pajamas. Carlos and I sat in the living room, watching movies until around midnight, when Danielle knocked on the door. I opened it and smiled, an actual smile this time.

"Feeling better?" She asked and stepped inside. I nodded and walked into the living room with her. She took her coat off and sat next to me on the couch. As she sat down, Carlos stood up.

"I'm going to use the bathroom and probably head out soon," Carlos said and smiled softly. He walked to the bathroom and a few moments later, called my name, "Hey, Candice, I think Zoë got into the garbage in he-." As soon as he cut himself off, my heart sank. I got up and ran to the bathroom where he was staring at the object I'd buried earlier, "Is that why you are so upset about everything with Grant?"

I nodded slowly as I felt tears forming in my eyes, "I don't know what to do. I don't want this. I don't need this. I can't have this happening." I couldn’t be a mother. I wasn’t ready mentally. My lifestyle wasn’t prepared to include a child, especially with Grant.

Danielle heard the commotion and came to the bathroom where she immediately noticed the positive pregnancy test laying on the ground, "Candice... this is not good at all. Not for Grant. Not for you. Not for the show. And certainly not for LA."

“You don’t think I know that? I am just starting out my career, I’m a lead character on the show, Grant is getting married in a few months to someone else,” I started crying harder and Danielle pulled me into my room, sitting on the bed and hugging me tightly. Carlos stood in the bathroom doorway in shock before hearing a knock at the door and going to open it.

“Dude, it’s really not a good time for you to be here. I don’t think Candice wants you here right now,” Carlos said and I knew exactly who was at the door.

Danielle got up and went into the bathroom, cleaning it up. Grant and Carlos were still in the doorway of the apartment.

“Baby, let’s not worry about it. You can call her or text her tomorrow,” I heard LA’s voice outside of the apartment.

“No, I can’t. I’ll be in our apartment in a few minutes. Can you go take the dogs out?” Grant asked LA, “Carlos, please. Just let me talk to her.” I heard Carlos sigh and moments later, Grant was in my room. Before I could collect myself, Grant was in my room, kneeling in front of me and holding my hands, "Hey, hey, shh.. Calm down, Candice. What's going on?"

I shook my head as tears fell down my face, "You need to leave. Please. I don't want you to be here right now. Please, just leave.”

I could see the hurt in his face, "Candice, please just talk to me. What's wrong? Why are you saying all of these things about LA and I? Why are you telling me that my relationship is and will be ruined?"

"Because you're a dumbass, that's why," Carlos said from across the room, "Way to go, fucking up a TV show and someone's career." I felt more tears roll down my face as Carlos spoke.

"Carlos!" Danielle snapped.

"No, he deserves it. Not only is he fucking up someone's career. Someone's life will be ruined. Someone's heart will be broken." Carlos said angrily. I'd never seen him so upset before. He wasn't all that close to LA so his anger confused me. I get that this pregnancy would get in the way of a lot, but Carlos’ reaction was strange.

"Candice, tell me right now. What the hell is going on?" Grant said, his patience withering away.

I shook my head and let go of his hands, “I don’t want to talk about it!” I shouted and stood up angrily, “What is so hard to understand? I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk to you about it, specifically.”

“Candice, I don’t wanna get in the middle of this, but you need to talk about it,” Danielle said quietly. I bit my lip as I felt myself trembling with anger and anxiety. I shut my eyes and drew in a deep breath, feeling Grant’s hands encasing mine again.

“Please… just tell me what’s going on. I’m sorry for yelling at you before. I just want to know what has you so upset,” He said softly and placed a hand on my cheek.

"Grant, I am pregnant." I whispered and moved away from him, "That's why I said all of those things. That's why I don't want to get to know LA. That's why I want you to leave!"

Grant's face instantly lost all color. He stayed silent for a few moments before grabbing my hands, “We’ll figure it out, Candice. I’ll make sure that you’re okay and that the baby is okay.” His voice was shaking and I could see tears forming in his eyes. I wrapped one arm around his back and placed my free hand on the back of his neck. He rested his forehead against my shoulder and cried into my neck, “I’m so sorry, Candice.”

I slowly traced my nails up and down his back, “It’s okay. We’ll be okay. I’m okay. I’m scared, but I am okay.” I kissed the top of his head and he sat up, wiping his tears away.

“Are you 100% positive you’re pregnant?” He asked.

I nodded my head and sighed, “I took two tests a week ago that were positive and I took one tonight that was positive.”

He bit his lip and took a deep breath, “I promise you I will do everything it takes to keep you guys happy and healthy.”

I nodded and hugged him tightly, “Thank you. For making me feel even a little less terrified.”

“There’s no reason to be scared,” Grant said and kissed my cheek gently.

“Um, what’s going on?” LA asked as she entered my room, “Babe, you said it’d be a few minutes. It’s been almost a half hour.”

“For starters, it has been fifteen minutes at most. And Candice isn’t having a good day and the cast is like family,” He said and stood up.

“I’m feeling a bit better now. Thank you guys,” I said and got up, “Danielle, you can spend the night if you want?” Danielle instantly nodded and the other three made their way to their own apartments.

I sat down on my bed and looked at my hands, “I’m kind of excited… The whole having a baby part.” I shrugged, “The whole Grant part though… it's a mess.” I knew deep down that no matter what, the baby would be okay. He or she would have two parents loving and supporting them. The hard part was how media would react and how fans would react. The even harder part was that Grant had a fiancée and he and I were far from together.


	2. Chapter 2

_ I pulled away slightly as Grant pulled me into his room, "We really, really, really should not be doing this," I whispered and went back to kissing him passionately. He pulled away as well, holding my face in hands.  _

_ "No, we really, really, really shouldn't," He whispered as we fell back onto his bed, me landing on top of him.  _

_ "That doesn't mean we can't," I said softly and kissed him again. He flipped us over so that he was on top of me and kissed down my neck, causing me to let out a quiet whimper. He found my sweet spot and sucked on it gently as my hands made their way down to the zipper of his pants. I quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants as I felt his hand roam under my shirt and to my chest. I gasped when I felt his hand push under my bra so he could cup my breast. I sat up and removed my shirt, letting him quickly unclip my bra. I tossed both articles of clothing onto the floor and laid back, pulling Grant's shirt off.  _

_ I placed my hands on his cheeks and brought his lips back to mine in a lustful kiss. His lips made their way down my neck and to my chest. He kissed around each of my breasts way too slowly before finally attaching his mouth to one of my nipples and sucking gently. He gave the other breast a massage with his hand as I helped him get his pants off.  _

"Candice! Are you even listening to me?" my good friend, Caity Lotz, asked as she stood in front of me in her apartment. She was trying to get me to help her pick out an outfit. Quite honestly, in the week since I told Grant, my focus had been on disassociating myself with the entire situation and any situation I found myself in that involved him. Still, I managed to find myself deep in thought about the night all of this mess started. The only conversations Grant and I had the past week were when I snuck into his trailer to give him the ultrasound pictures from my appointment and those as Barry and Iris. 

"Yes, sorry. I like the pink skirt," I said as I brought my attention back to Caity. She gave me a glare and I rolled my eyes with a sigh. I hadn't told her yet. Every time I thought about everything, I felt sick to my stomach. Caity could tell something was up, but she'd spent no time harassing me about it. She knew that it wouldn't help anything to try and force me to talk. She set her clothes down and sat next to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"I know you don't want to talk about whatever is going on, but I'm here for you. Whatever's going on, you can talk to me about it whenever you're ready," She said and smiled at me. I put my face in my hands before running my fingers through my hair anxiously. I had to tell her. I couldn't tell everyone else I know and not tell Caity. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but no words were coming out. I then sighed and reached into my purse and pulled out the ultrasound picture. I made sure it was flipped upside down so that she couldn't see what it was before turning to hand it to her. She grabbed it and flipped it over, her jaw dropping in shock, "Candice... you're... who? How? When? How far along are you?"

"Well, obviously sex. And I'm about twelve weeks along, so about three months," I answered and smiled. Talking about the baby wasn't that bad. It was mostly the whole 'how the baby came to be' that made me sick to my stomach.

“And the who…?” She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I shook my head and sighed as I felt the tears forming in my eyes. 

“I don’t want to talk about it or think about it. I just want to worry about the baby. Not his or her father,” I whispered and shook my head again. Part of me just wanted to avoid the truth and the reality I was facing, part of me wanted to avoid my true feelings for Grant, and another part of me just missed having him around as a friend. 

“Normally I wouldn’t push for you to tell me stuff, but this is important. Who is the father of the baby?” Caity asked and looked at me. 

I bit my lip and sighed before looking down into my lap, playing with my hands as I began speaking, “So… there was this one night where we were filming late and some of us decided that we wanted to go out drinking. And some of us drank a lot. And two of us ended up going home together. And one of us ended up staying the night in an apartment they shouldn’t have. And I woke up naked and in Grant’s bed. And I wasn’t the only person naked and in Grant’s bed.”

“Candice, he has a fiancée! What were you thinking?” She asked.

“I wasn’t! That’s the thing, I wasn’t thinking. Grant and I both were clearly not thinking!” I said and sighed, “It doesn’t matter now. In six months, we’re going to be parents… Honestly, I’m excited about the baby. I’m excited about being a mom. I’m just scared about becoming a mom with Grant. I know he’ll be a good dad, but there’ll be so much baggage with the pregnancy.”

We continued talking about the baby for a while before I had to go to set. I parked my car in the back lot and went into my trailer with Zoë. As I made my way to wardrobe, I bumped into Grant, who was not watching where he was going. 

“Oh my gosh, Candice, are you okay?” He asked, “Did I hurt you? Did I hur-,” I cut him off as I saw that LA was also on set. I rolled my eyes and sighed, looking at Grant and smiling.

“Nope, I’m okay. Don’t worry about it. See you on set,” I said and walked away from him. I walked past LA, and she shoved past me. I whipped around and grabbed her wrist, “I’d suggest you check yourself. I won’t tolerate this bullshit. And I can promise you, your future husband won’t either.”

I let go of her as Grant walked over to the two of us, “It was nice talking with you, thanks for the well wishes,” LA said with an evil grin before turning to Grant with a smile.

“Fucking bitch,” I muttered under my breath. I continued walking to wardrobe when I started to feel incredibly dizzy and nauseous. I quickly found somewhere to sit down and within seconds, threw up. I felt someone pull my hair back for me and looked up to see Grant.

“LA is taking a nap,” He answered one of my questions before I could even ask it, “I was coming back to set and saw you over here. If you want, I can take you back to your apartment and we can film other scenes today. You’re not in that many scenes anyway.”

I shook my head as I started crying, “I can’t do any of this Grant, I can’t do it.” He wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. I continued sobbing and he rubbed my back soothingly. 

“You’re gonna be okay. I promise you. Everything will be okay,” He said and pulled away from the hug, “Come on, let’s get you back to your apartment and get you some rest.” I nodded and made my way back to my trailer. I got my purse and Zoë ready before making my way to Grant’s car with him. We got into the car and I sighed deeply as he began driving. Grant reached over and placed his hand over mine, “I’m going to make sure the two of you are okay. This baby is my number one priority right now.”

“Sure as hell seems like it,” I scoffed and swatted his hand away. Grant sighed and we things went back to being silent again. The rest of the car ride was hell. No words could explain how much I hated him. No words could explain how much I hated his perfect smile. No words could explain how much I hated his voice. No words could explain how much I hated his irresistible lips. I just really fucking could not stand being around him.

We got to the apartment building and made our way up to our floor. Grant followed me into my apartment and I turned around with a sigh, “Could you hop off, for God’s sake?”

“What?” Grant asked, giving me a mixture of a confused and hurt facial expression.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, “I am not a child, Thomas. I am a grown ass adult who can take care of herself. You don’t have to follow me into my apartment and play babysitter.”

“I’m… just trying to help. I’m sorry,” He said and shook his head. He walked back to the door and started to open it before turning around, “Would you prefer I not give a shit? Would you prefer I do nothing for you or that fucking kid? Because, believe me, it’d make my life a hell of a lot easier if I could do that!”

“Then fucking do that, Thomas. I am not the person who is getting married in a month. I didn’t ask for you to get me pregnant and I did not ask for you to stay in the kid’s life. Honestly, it’d be much easier if you didn’t,” I said through gritted teeth. I realized what I said and instantly regretted it. I didn’t even remotely mean it. 

“Fuck you, Candice. I wish they never fucking cast you on the show,” He said and shook his head. I saw a tear roll down his face as he walked out of the apartment and slammed the door. I felt tears pour down my own face as I ran after him, swinging the door open and running down the hall. I grabbed his wrist gently and turned him around.

“Listen, I’m sorry, Grant. I really am. I’m just stressed because everything is so so stressful. You have a fiancée. And we’re having a baby. And I-... nevermind. It’s just stressful and confusing and scary,” I whispered as tears continued to fall down my face. Grant placed his hands on my cheeks and used his thumbs to gently wipe my tears away as I continued talking, “I know you’re going to be a good dad. And I’d never want to take that from you. But I just need to know that you want to be a dad to this kid. I don’t care if now is a good time. I care if you want to be a father to your child.”

Grant shook his head and grabbed my hand, pulling me back into my apartment. I sat down at my kitchen table and looked down at my hands, “I want to be a father to this baby more than anything. I love this baby and I haven’t even met him or her yet. I know that we’ll be amazing parents. But I’m scared too. I have to face my…  Andrea. I have to figure out my relationship with her. I have to figure out everything with you. Because I have no idea what I am doing or what we are doing anymore.”

“There is no we though…” I whispered while playing with my fingers. Grant grabbed my hands in his and crouched down in front of me. He let go of one of my hands and brushed my hair out of my face.

“As long as WE are having this baby, there is a we,” He said and smiled. I smiled back and hugged him tightly. As we pulled away, he brushed his nose past mine and stopped moving. I took a deep breath before connecting our lips in a passionate kiss. He pulled me up out of the chair and wrapped his arm around me as he continued kissing me. I pulled away and sighed.

“Y-you should go,” I whispered and looked down before walking to my room and shutting the door. I heard him exit my apartment as I laid back on my bed. I felt guilty. I shouldn’t be falling in love with my co-star. I shouldn’t be falling in love with someone who has a fiancée. I shouldn’t be falling in love with Thomas Grant Gustin.


	3. Chapter 3

**_GRANT'S POV_ **

I left Candice's apartment and drove back to the film location. I felt horrible. I didn't even know what I wanted anymore. I wanted the baby, of course, but I didn't know what to do with LA. I loved her, but everything was so confusing. I pulled into the lot and parked my car. I didn't even have to walk to my trailer. LA was clearly waiting for me and clearly not happy.

"Where the hell were you?" LA asked angrily, "And I can see your little friend isn't here either. Where'd she go?" She always reacted like this about everything with Candice. I could call her to ask her something about the show or an appearance and LA will question everything about it. 

I rolled my eyes, "She threw up and wasn't able to get herself home. So I brought her to her apartment. I'm sorry I care about my friends." I didn't want a fight, but it was bound to happen eventually. Even before and without knowing about anything with Candice, LA has been so jealous of her. I will never understand it, but then again I guess now she's had a reason to be. 

"Grant, sometimes I feel like you care about her more than you care about me," LA whispered. I bit my lip and stepped toward her, grabbing her hands in mine.

"Hey, you know that's not true. I love you. I'm in love with you. I promise you, I'm in love with you and you only. You're a top priority of mine," I said and kissed her forehead, but got pushed away immediately. I sighed and stepped away from her as she let go of my hands.

" _ A  _ top priority?" She asked, raising her voice, "I should be your very top priority! Not one of your top priorities. I should be your only one."

"LA, I have a family. You're not the only person in my life. I love you and you should know this. Why are you acting like this? Why are you suddenly so insecure about us? A month away from our wedding?” I asked and sighed, “It’s ridiculous. I am marrying  _ you _ , Andrea. I’m not marrying anyone else.” 

“You might as well be, Thomas!” She shouted. She didn’t even look distraught or sad. She just looked like she was full of rage. I let her continue to yell at me, not really caring what she had to say. 

After a few minutes of her rambling, I shrugged and sighed, “I love you. And I’m sorry. I love you though.” She nodded slowly and I brought her into a hug before kissing her softly. I truly did love her. I wasn’t lying. I was pretty sure I was  _ in  _ love with her. I was just starting to feel like she maybe wasn’t the only person I was in love with. Was I more in love with one than the other?

I walked to my trailer and sat down, going on my phone. I saw that Candice had texted me and I smiled immediately which made me feel even more guilty than I already was. Her text was thanking me for getting her home and putting up with her mood swings. I chuckled to myself as I read the text. I couldn’t get that woman off of my mind no matter how hard I tried and honestly, I didn’t really want to. Candice was stunning. She was absolutely breathtaking, sexy, kind, adorable, charismatic, strong, powerful, and just overall amazing. 

I sighed and stood up just as I heard a knock on the door of my trailer. I opened it up to see Jesse standing there, “Hey, what’s up?” I asked and smiled. He walked into the trailer and sat down on the sofa.

“Listen, I don’t know what is going on, but something is clearly up. You and Candice have hardly been talking and when you do, you both act very cold and emotionless. Not to mention, she’s been very sick constantly lately. I might not actually be her dad, but I’m still very concerned about her and the two of you. I know how much the two of you care about one another and when you’re not getting along, it really affects all of the cast,” Jesse said with a sigh. I shrugged and returned a sigh before standing up and going into the closet of my trailer. In the bottom, hidden under a pile of storage containers, was the ultrasound picture. I walked back to Jesse and took a deep breath before handing it to him and sitting down.

“I know what you’re going to say. You’re probably going to tell me off like Carlos has and like Danielle has and like half of the producers have, but honestly, I’m happy. I’m excited. I’m just scared of everything with LA. I love her, I really do, but now someone else is having my baby. How is LA supposed to love  _ me _ ?” I shook my head and sighed, “I’m also worried about Candice. She is the one who is pregnant and on top of it, she’s the one having a kid with someone’s fiancé. And there’s just a lot of different things going on now because of this and I have to face all of it. I have so many decisions to make and I don’t know what I am going to do.” I looked over at Jesse and he was still looking at the picture in shock.

“I can tell you one thing you are going to do is bust your ass to make sure the next eighteen years and six months aren’t as stressful on Candice as they are probably going to be. Yeah, you have a lot to figure out and think about right now, but you should be most focused on the baby. Candice should also be a top priority of yours. Don’t let her go through this alone, Grant,” Jesse said, “But I am happy for you. You’ll be a wonderful dad. You just have to let yourself take a deep breath and worry a little bit less.” Worry less? Did he not realize any of what I’d just told him about the situation I was in. How could I worry less? I had so much to worry about; Candice, the baby, LA, the show. I couldn’t even try to worry less. 

Later, after we finished filming for the day, I went home and helped LA with finishing the last touches on our wedding planning. Afterward, we sat in the living room with the dogs, watching TV, “Are you excited about the wedding?” LA asked and kissed my cheek. I smiled and turned toward her, pecking her lips. 

“Of course I’m excited! Just a little nervous though,” I said and shrugged. 

“Nervous?” She asked and raised her eyebrow, “Why are you nervous?”

“It’s a big day. You don’t wanna mess it up, you know?” I said and bit my lip, “I’m excited to be your husband and for you to be my wife. There’s nothing that’d make me happier.”

LA smiled and kissed me softly, her hand roaming down to the hem of my shirt. She pulled it off of me and laid back, pulling me on top of her. I kissed down her neck, my hand making its way under her shirt. I pulled it over her head and continued to kiss down her chest as she ran her fingers through my hair. I felt her hands on the button my jeans and jerked away from her, “I-, um, I’m sorry, I just don’t really want to do this right now.”

“What’s going on with you, Grant? You’ve been acting weird ever since Candice had her psychotic meltdown at dinner!” LA snapped, “Did you do something to cause that? Did you do something with  _ her  _ to cause that?” She stood up and put her shirt back on before glaring down at me. 

“Of course not, LA. I will admit that something’s been up with Candice and I’m worried about her, but there is nothing going on between Candice and I. There has never been something going on. You are the woman I am marrying. I love you! I just care about my friends, especially when they are going through a tough time.”

“How am I supposed to trust that when you disappeared for an hour with her earlier?” LA asked me. I rolled my eyes and got up off of the couch.

“Andrea, I told you she wasn’t feeling well. Do you want me to show you exactly where she threw up?” I asked angrily, “Could you please stop being so insecure about yourself and about our relationship? I love you.”

“I don’t want you around her outside of cast get-togethers and on set,” LA said and walked into our bedroom, slamming the door. I followed her into the room and swung the door open.

“I’m sorry, but you are not going to control who I spend time with and who I am friends with. You are my fiancée, not my mother. Hell, my mother doesn’t even and never did try to control who I am friends with. I am not going to live my life married to someone who tells me who I can and cannot be around,” I said, trying not to get too upset. 

LA shook her head and chuckled slightly, “Do you want to marry me?” She asked and looked at me. Yet again, she didn’t even seem hurt or sad. She just seemed possessive and spiteful. 

“Of course I want to marry you!” I said and sighed, “I’m in love with you. You are the love of my life.” To be completely honest, I wasn’t sure about the last part. And the more LA questioned my friendship with Candice, the more I was unsure about all of it.

“Then you can go a month until the wedding without talking to her outside of set and cast get-togethers,” LA said and looked into my eyes, “Can’t you?”

I shrugged and sighed, “Fine, but after the wedding no more controlling my friendships.” She nodded and came over to me, placing her hands on my face; something she never really did. It was hard to stay mad at her. As hard as things were becoming, I still adored her. I smiled and kissed her forehead and then connected my lips to hers.

“I love you,” She said and smiled at me, “I can’t wait to be your wife.” I smiled and wrapped my arms around the woman I’d be spending my life with and pecked her lips.

“I can’t wait to be your husband, LA. I am so in love with you,” I whispered against her lips before kissing her passionately. 

We spent the remainder of the evening cuddling, watching movies, and playing with the dogs. In the middle of the night, when LA was asleep, I got up and went into the kitchen. I opened up my computer and pulled up a private tab. I went to a few different parenting websites, looking at different lists of baby names. There were a few that stuck out to me and I went to text them to Candice, but then realized that I couldn’t. I sighed and closed all of the tabs and shut my computer, deciding to go for a walk with the dogs, around the apartment building. I walked past Candice’s apartment and bit my lip. I didn’t think I’d be this upset about not being able to spend time with her, but I felt alone. She was my go-to person when everyone else was across the continent from us. 

I didn’t take too long of a walk since I knew that LA would be worried and angry if she woke up and I was gone for too long. I returned to the apartment with Jett and Nora and went back to bed. It was going to be a long few weeks until the wedding. Candice was going to be there. She was going to be at the rehearsal dinner as well since we invited the cast. As much as I was excited to settle down with LA, I knew that having Candice at the wedding was going to make it harder. I was terrified that if I looked her in the eyes, I wouldn’t be able to say ‘I do’. 

I rolled over and wrapped my arm around LA, kissing her shoulder gently. I sighed and drifted off to sleep, worried about how the next few weeks would play out. 

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**_CANDICE’S POV_ **

_ I woke up in the morning in an unfamiliar bedroom. I rolled over to see Grant asleep next to me and naked. I quickly jumped out of the bed, only to realize I was naked as well, “Thomas Grant Gustin, wake up!” I shouted. It’s not like I didn’t remember what happened the night before. I just had hoped it was just a wet dream and I hadn’t become a home-wrecker. Grant woke up and looked over at me with a tired smile. _

_ I couldn’t help letting every ounce of stress I was experiencing flow out of my body. I kneeled on the bed and ran my fingers through his hair, “Good morning.” I whispered. He pulled my body back down next to his and kissed me passionately. I melted into him and continued the kiss for a few moments before snapping back to reality and pulling away, “Grant, we can’t do this. Whatever this is, we can’t do it. I like it, but I hardly remember last night. Besides, I really don’t have feelings beyond this and you have a fiancée.” _

_ “Candice…” He whispered and placed his hand on my cheek. I couldn’t read the expression on his face. All I knew is that it sent a wave of butterflies through me. I shook my head and grabbed his wrist gently, pulling his hand off of my face. _

_ “No, Grant, where even is LA?” I asked and sighed. I truly did have feelings for him, but I cared about him and LA and their relationship. _

_ “LA is… she left. I don’t know when she is coming back. She said she was having cold feet and she knew deep down she wants to get married, but she needs some space for now,” Grant answered. I frowned and got up, finding my shirt. _

_ “I’m sorry, Grant. I really am. I wish I knew what to tell you, but I don’t. I do know that this is not the way to handle it. I might not have feelings for you, but I’m worth more than that,” I said and sighed, lying about the feelings part. It broke my heart that I was just a distraction for him. I put the rest of my clothes on and walked toward his bedroom door as he put on his boxers. He came over to me and grabbed my hand, pulling me into another passionate kiss. I let myself give into him and kissed back, placing my hands on his cheeks. I pulled away and smiled gently, “Goodbye, Grant. This isn’t happening ever again. I hope you know that.” _

I got up to get ready and sighed deeply. By now, I had a small bump. It wasn’t super noticeable, but I couldn’t wear the dress I had originally planned on wearing to the rehearsal dinner anymore. I didn’t even want to go at this point. Grant had been avoiding talking to me for the entirety of the past month. He’d only been talking to me on set and around other cast members.

I finished getting ready to go. I chose to wear a red bodycon dress, not worrying too much about my tiny bump. At this point, I didn’t care and it was small enough of a bump to say that I’m on my period and bloated if anyone asked. I put on a pair of matching red heels and put a black bomber jacket on over it. I then made my way to the dinner, arriving very quickly since everyone was staying at the resort the wedding was at. I went into the dining room and my eyes instantly met Grant’s. I waved and smiled before going over to the rest of the cast.

“Hey, Mama C,” Jessica Parker Kennedy said as I sat down. I chuckled and shook my head. After more of the cast learned about my pregnancy, they started giving me nicknames. We all sat and chatted throughout the rehearsal dinner. I got up with some of the cast to go walk around the resort. Jesse, Carlos, Jessica and I were sitting out on the beach when Grant came out by us.

“Candice, can I talk to you in private quick?” He asked and sighed. I got up and nodded. We began walking down the beach as he started talking, “Listen… I am so so sorry I’ve been ignoring you. After tomorrow, I won’t be. I know it’s incredibly selfish, but LA told me that I couldn’t talk to you for a month leading up to the wedding if I want to marry her. I’m sorry.”

I sighed deeply and shrugged, “I get it. It’s okay. I’d do the same,” I whispered and shrugged again, “But Grant, you need to tell her about the baby. You can’t be in the baby’s life if she doesn’t know about the baby.”

“I know, I just need some time,” Grant said and frowned, “I care about you and the baby more than I can explain. I’ll figure everything out. I promise you that.” He said and smiled at me. God, I hated the way he did that. All it took was a small smile and I couldn’t even try to be upset or angry with him.

We stopped talking and made our way back to the rest of the cast before heading inside so Grant and LA could say bye to their family. The rest of us were going to stay back and hang out at the bar. I, unfortunately, was one of the last to sit down and got stuck next to LA. I drifted into deep thought about that morning with Grant as everyone started doing drunk toasts.

_ I was sitting in my trailer later that morning when the door swung open and Grant made his way into my trailer. He walked over to me and sat on the counter, looking at me, “You know, I really enjoyed last night.” _

_ I rolled my eyes and shook my head with a giggle, “It was okay,” I said and shrugged, “And it’s not going to happen again.” My eyes met his as I felt his pinky finger graze over my own. I bit my lip and took a deep breath. All of my previous thoughts and statements shattered when his lips met mine for the millionth time in the past twenty-four hours. Soon enough, we were on the couch and he was on top of me, pumping in and out of me as I tried my best not to scream his name. My nails were digging into his back as we both neared climax. _

I was brought back out of my thoughts by Carlos drunkenly shouting, “I would like to make a toast!” We all chuckled and rolled our eyes, shaking our heads, “To the groom… I am so happy for you and proud of you. You’re going to be an amazing father!”

“Carlos, Grant and I aren’t having a baby…” LA said as Grant’s eyes bugged out of his head, “We are getting married.”

“I’m not talking about you and Grant! I’m talking about Grant and Candice! You don’t know yet?” Carlos asked and giggled drunkenly. There are no words in the English language that could describe the look on LA’s face as Carlos spoke, “The two of you are going to be amazing parents.” He smiled and looked from me to Grant.

“Thomas, what the hell is he talking about?” LA asked, her face turning bright red. You could practically see steam blowing out of her ears. Grant opened his mouth to speak, but no words were coming out. LA then turned to me and I stepped away from her.

“Listen, I can explain, LA,” I whispered, on the verge of tears. As much as she was about to marry the man that I loved and the father of my baby, I felt terrible for her. I didn’t want to hurt her or ruin their relationship. The expression on her face changed as soon as I spoke and I felt a wave of fear rush through my body, “LA, I promise you Grant didn’t cheat on you. He loves you. I know this makes no sen-.” I got cut off by her slamming me against the wall. Grant immediately got up and tried to get in between us, but she wouldn’t budge. Her hands were balled up into fists as she backed me into a corner. As soon as I hit the corner, one of her hands wrapped around my neck. I’d never seen this side of her ever. I’d only ever seen small glimpses of it. It probably didn’t help that she’d had her fair share of alcohol that evening.

“Andrea, let her go!” Grant shouted, “Are you fucking crazy?” I tried to push her off of me as tears rolled down my face.

“No! Last I checked, unlike this whore,” She said and gripped my neck harder, “I didn’t. Fucking. Sleep. With. Someones. Fiancé.” She spit in my face and went to slap me, but I grabbed her wrist, digging my nails into it.

“I’d suggest you listen to your future husband,” I whispered angrily.

“What the hell are you gonna do?” She slurred and tightened her grip on my neck. This woman was clearly not going to remember a thing in the morning. I chuckled and sighed, letting go of her wrist and grabbing her by her hair, yanking her to the ground and causing her to let go of me. I shoved her to the ground and she sat up, throwing a punch toward my stomach. She hit me in the side of the stomach and I lost it. Before anyone could stop me, I backhanded her.

I grabbed her by the collar of the jacket she had stolen from Grant and held her face up to mine, “Don’t ever try to harm my child again!” I whispered through gritted teeth before shoving her away from me. Tears began to fall down my face as Jessica and Jesse rushed me away from her. I wanted to hate her, but I couldn’t find it in me even after that incident. What I’d done to her life and her relationship was far worse than what she’d just done. She’d have to live with it all for much longer.

Jessica and I went to my hotel room and I laid down while sobbing, “Everything is ruined. Everything. It’s my fault. Grant’s relationship is ruined. LA’s life is ruined. Her heart is broken. And it’s my fault. Grant’s going to hate me.”

“He’s not going to hate you,” Jessica said and shook her head, “That man loves you. Whether he’ll admit it or not. He’s probably going to end up being grateful that LA found out tonight.”

About twenty minutes later, I’d calmed down and stopped crying, but I was still very on edge. Jessica and I were watching a movie when there was a knock on my door. Jessica got up and opened it and Grant immediately rushed into the room. I started crying instantly and he engulfed me in a hug, “Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”

I nodded and pulled away from the hug to see that he was crying as well, “I’m so so sorry, Grant. I didn’t want any of this to happen. Please don’t hate Carlos either. He was very drunk. And don’t hate LA. She’s going through a lot.”

“You know, you’re going to be the best mom out there,” Grant said softly, “You’re so accepting and understanding and you worry about others before worrying about yourself.”

“I love you,” I whispered through tears. I meant it, but I didn’t mean to say it.

“I love you, too,” He whispered and bit his lip, “I love you.”

“But you love LA,” I said and sighed, looking down.

“Candice, I have a lot to figure out, but I know that I love you, okay? And I’ll finally admit it. I love you,” He said and smiled softly, but this time the smile didn’t make me feel any better. I stood up with a sigh and went to say something, but felt a jolt of pain in my stomach. I let out a shriek and started crying as I fell to the ground, holding my stomach.

“Candice, you’re bleeding,” Jessica said from across the room. I looked down and that there was blood dripping down my leg.

Grant immediately called 911 and carried me to the lobby of the hotel. I don’t remember much other than the ambulance ride with Grant. I floated in and out of consciousness. The entire ride consisted of Grant kissing my forehead repeatedly and saying, “Stay with me, C.” That was all I remembered before I completely lost consciousness.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**_GRANT'S POV_ **

During the ambulance ride to the hospital, Candice kept fading in and out of consciousness. Right as we were getting to the hospital, she faded out and didn't come back. I grabbed her head in my hands as tears streamed down my face, "Please don't leave me, baby. Please stay with me." We all got out of the ambulance as they put an oxygen mask on Candice and rushed her into the hospital. Jesse, Carlos, and Jessica arrived a few minutes later. I tried to follow Candice and the doctor's but they wouldn't allow me. 

"That's my baby! She's carrying my baby!" I screamed and Jesse and Carlos quickly pulled me to a chair to try and calm me down. I just wanted to stay by Candice's side. I couldn't lose her or the baby. If I did lose the baby, I couldn't lose Candice as well. 

"Listen, Grant, you need to calm down. I know this isn't easy, but you need to calm down," Jessica said and grabbed my hand gently, "It's going to be okay."

I shook my head and sighed, "It's not going to be okay. This isn't fair. Candice doesn't deserve this." Jessica nodded and frowned.

“She doesn’t, but you need to stay strong for her. You need to stay strong for the baby,” Jessica said and pulled me into a hug. I let her comfort me for a few minutes before a doctor came over to us. 

“Are you guys family of Ms. Patton?” The doctor asked and pulled up a chair in front of us. I shook my head and sighed.

“None of us are, but she’s pregnant with my baby,” I answered and looked at the doctor. 

The doctor nodded and looked at his iPad before looking at me, “You mean babies?”

“Um… what?” I asked and looked at the doctor with wide eyes. I didn’t even pay attention to him repeating himself. Candice was pregnant with twins. I couldn’t believe it, “So… are they okay? Is Candice okay?” 

“Ms. Patton is stable. The twins seem to be stable, but we are running tests to figure out what’s wrong and why she was bleeding so much,” The doctor answered, “You can go see her if you want.” I nodded and stood up, following him to her room. Everyone else stayed behind, letting Candice and I have some alone time. 

I walked into her room and she smiled up at me. I sat down next to her and grabbed her hand, kissing her forehead gently.

“We’re having two babies,” She said and smiled happily. I nodded and placed my hand on her belly. Her bump wasn’t noticeable when you looked at her. I caressed her stomach with my thumb and kissed her cheek. 

“How are you feeling?” I asked and looked over at her. She shrugged and I saw tears forming in her eyes. I shook my head and grabbed her hands, “Hey, listen, we don’t have to talk about it. I’m sorry.”

“Grant, have you even bothered checking on LA?” She asked and looked at me as she cried, “Because she’s hurting too. Do you think she’d actually want to harm children? Your children at that? I doubt it. She was drunk and heartbroken and shocked and she’s probably doing even worse now.”

I sighed and shrugged, “Candice, I had to worry about you and the babies. I can live without her. But these kids can’t go through life without me. You are their mother, so you are going to be getting the same treatment that they do.”

Candice nodded and took a deep breath, “I’m doing good. I don’t know about the twins. We’ll know within a few hours.” She whispered and smiled. We continued talking about the twins and planning stuff for them. We talked about a few names and chose our favorites.

As we were talking, her doctor came back into the room with test results. He stood near us and told us what was wrong, “It looks like you have a  Subchorionic Hemorrhage . Basically, it means that you have a hemorrhage in between your uterine wall and one of your babies. It sounds scarier than it is. As long as you see your doctor every week and closely monitor it, your babies shouldn’t be harmed.”

Candice nodded happily, “Thank you so so much.” She said and smiled. I stood up and shook the doctor’s hand, thanking him. Candice was able to leave the hospital and I was helping her get ready to go when she leaned over and clutched her side.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, “Should I go get a doctor? Do you need anything? Water? Food?”

“Get the doctor,” Candice whispered and clutched her stomach, “Now!” I nodded and got up running out of the room.

I ran to the desk frantically, “My… friend needs a doctor now. Her stomach is hurting again. I think it’s the twins.” I whispered, starting to panic. A few nurses dropped what they were doing and rushed to the room. Candice’s face was drained of color and she was starting to fade out again. I rushed to her side and held her head in my hands, “Don’t leave me, Candice. Please don’t leave me. I can’t lose the three of you. Stay with me.”

“I’m trying,” Candice struggled to whisper. I felt tears pouring down my face as she faded out again. A few nurses pushed me out of the room and sent me back to the waiting room. I looked over at Jesse, Jessica, and Carlos as tears streamed down my face. They all ran over to me and engulfed me in a giant hug. 

“I don’t know what’s happening. She was being discharged and then she suddenly started to fade out again,” I whispered and shook my head, “I can’t lose them.”

After a while, I decided to go find the hospital chapel. I didn’t spend a lot of time praying, but this is one of the times it was necessary. I sat at a pew in the chapel and held my head in my hands, starting to sob uncontrollably, “God, I know, I’ve made a lot of mistakes lately, but I just Candice to be okay. Even if the babies aren’t, I at least need her to be okay. I love her. And I want to make things right with her. She doesn’t deserve any of this. She deserves a chance to live her life.”

I heard someone walk into the chapel and turned around to see LA, “Listen, I know you don’t want to see me or tal-,” She started, but I got up and hugged her tightly, crying into her shoulder, “Sh… It’s going to be okay, Grant. It’s going to be okay, right?” I realized that LA was crying as well, “She’s going to be okay, right?”

I pulled away from LA and shrugged, “I don’t really know. She’s not doing very well. It’s not your fault, though. She would have lost the babies by now if it was.”

“Babies?” LA asked and raised an eyebrow. 

“Yeah, I guess we’re having twins,” I said and smiled at the thought, “I… I want you to know I never cheated on you. You had left for an indefinite amount of time and her and I were drunk one night. We hardly remembered it when we woke up.”

“It’s okay. I’m okay. I’m happy for you and for her,” LA said, “I’m sorry about all of this. I really hope that she is okay and that the twins are okay. Are we going to be okay?”

I shrugged and sighed, “I don’t know. I don’t think so. Right now, we need to call the wedding off. We’ll figure everything else out later. I need to focus on Candice and the twins right now.” She nodded and as we continued talking, Jesse walked into the chapel.

“Grant, Candice is stable, but they need you immediately,” he said. I nodded and rushed back to Candice’s room.

“What’s going on?” I asked and sat next to Candice, grabbing her hand. Candice shrugged and squeezed my hand as the doctor sat down.

“So… We were able to figure out exactly what happened. One of the babies was taking too many nutrients from Candice’s body. Her immune system reacted by trying to get rid of the baby. All of this became incredibly dangerous for Candice’s body which is why she kept passing out,” The doctor said solemnly, “Eventually, one of the twins ended up being lost. Candice will continue bleeding for a few days, but she’ll be okay after that.”

As soon as the doctor said that Candice had miscarried, she started hyperventilating and crying. I bit my lip, trying to hold back tears to help keep Candice stronger. I sat next to her on her bed and pulled her into my arms, rubbing her side gently, “Shh… Calm down, C. We’re gonna be alright. We still have one of our little angels. And the other is up in heaven looking over you right now.”

“If it’d make you feel a little better, I can tell you the genders of the twins,” The doctor said. Candice nodded her head and continued crying, “Both of the twins are little girls.”

My jaw started trembling as tears rolled down my face. I was crying out of sadness and happiness. I was beyond excited that we were going to have a little girl, but my heart was broken for the little girl we weren’t going to get to have. I sat there, holding Candice, and thinking for a while before sitting up, “I’m going to be right back, okay? I just need to go take care of something.” She nodded and let me get up. I went back into the waiting room and pulled LA back to the chapel.

“What’s going on, Grant?” She asked. I think she could tell what was up.

“Andrea, I love you with all of my heart. I always will. It’s just… I love Candice as well. She really needs me right now,” I said and sighed, “I want us to be able to spend our lives happy and carefree and surrounded by positive energy. You’re not going to find that with me, and I have found that. I’ve found that with Candice.”

LA nodded as tears formed in her eyes, “I understand. It sucks, but being married would only make things worse. You two deserve all the happiness in the world.”

I smiled and gave her a hug before pulling away, “I’ll talk to you soon. I just really need to be with Candice right now.” I smiled softly before turning and going back to Candice’s room. I found her in worse shape than I had left her.

I sat back next to her and engulfed her in a hug again, kissing her forehead repeatedly, “Listen, we’ll be okay. You’ll be okay. Everything will be okay. From here on out, I am going to devote my entire life to making sure you’re better than okay. I love you, Candice. I’m in love with you.”

Almost instantly, Candice calmed down drastically, “I-i love you t-too, G,” She whispered. I turned her face up to mine and kissed her passionately. She kissed back and then pulled away, “I’m in love with you too.”

Candice was able to be discharged that night. I didn’t even bother to stay at the hotel overnight. We went to our rooms and packed before getting on a plane back to Los Angeles. Candice stayed at my place for the entirety of the week. 

One evening when we were sitting in the living room, she turned the TV off in the middle of a movie and looked at me, “Grant, I don’t want to just jump into a relationship. I want to go on dates and take things at a normal pace.”

“I am perfectly okay with that. I still want you nearby. If you want, I’ll stay in the guest room for a while,” I said and smiled. She nodded and laid her head on my shoulder. 

“I like that idea. I get the comfy bed,” She said and giggled. I rolled my eyes and chuckled, kissing the top of her head.

“Only because you’re carrying our little angel,” I whispered and pulled her closer to me. We continued watching the movie and at the end, I noticed that Candice had fallen asleep on me. I smiled and lifted her up, carrying her to my room. I laid her in my bed and tucked her in before heading to the guest room. About ten minutes later, I felt her lay next to me and cuddle into me, “I thought you wanted to keep things slower?”

“Yeah, well, I missed you when I was in the other room,” She whispered sleepily. I chuckled and kissed her cheek before drifting off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**_CANDICE'S POV_ **

I woke up in the morning and rolled over, kissing Grant's forehead. I got out of bed wearing one of Grant's button-up shirts and went into the kitchen to make us breakfast. As I was cooking, I felt Grant come up behind me and place his hands on my belly, “How are my girls doing this morning?” He asked and kissed my cheek and neck. 

I turned toward him as I finished cooking and handed him a plate full of food before grabbing my own, “Hungry. That’s how we’re doing.” 

Grant took the plate and kissed my forehead gently, “What did I do to deserve such an angel in my life?”

I shrugged and went over to the table with him, “You know, I ask myself that same question everyday… What did Grant do to deserve me?” I said and giggled. He rolled his eyes and shook his head at me. As we were sitting in the kitchen, eating breakfast, there was a knock at the door. I started to get up, but Grant stood up before me.

“I got it, baby,” He said and kissed my cheek before going over to the door. He opened it and from the kitchen, I could see his parents in the doorway. They had known about the breakup and that something happened after the rehearsal dinner, but they didn’t know any details. 

“Can we come in to talk?” His father asked him. Grant was clearly struggling with what to say, so I walked over and took a deep breath.

“Yes, you may come in. I can get going if you’d like,” I said and smiled at them. 

“No, no, in fact, now we have even more to talk about,” Grant’s parents said as they walked into the apartment. We all went into the kitchen and I quickly cleaned up the dishes from breakfast.

Grant and I sat at the table, across from his parents. I reached over and grabbed his hand, incredibly nervous for the conversation that was about to take place.

“So… What exactly happened after the rehearsal dinner? And what is going on between the two of  _ you _ ?” Grant’s dad, Thomas asked.

Grant took a deep breath and sighed, “About a little more than four months ago, LA left indefinitely. One night, I went out with the cast and woke up the next morning with Candice. And about a month ago, we found out she is pregnant. And then at the rehearsal dinner, Carlos was drunk and LA found out. She was also incredibly intoxicated and she sort of attacked Candice. The reason we split up was that I, at that point, had feelings for both of them and with the baby being a part of the picture, it’d be too difficult to manage it all.”

“Thomas Grant Gustin, why didn’t you tell us right away when you found out?” His mom, Tina, asked, “You know we’d be here for you.”

“I was scared,” Grant whispered and sighed, “It’s been a long few months and… I am sorry, I should have talked to you guys.”

“How are you, sweetie?” Tina asked and looked over at me. I smiled and shrugged.

“I’m doing alright. It’s been incredibly stressful. I never wanted anything like this to happen in this way. You know? I am glad that I am having her, but Grant was obviously in a relationship. It put a lot of added stress into the entire situation,” I answered and looked toward Grant, “But I think that at the end of the day, this pregnancy happened for a reason and honestly, it’s really brought the two of us closer.”

“Are the two of you together?” Thomas asked. I chuckled slightly and looked over at Grant before answering the question.

“More less. I think that is a goal of ours, but we’re taking things slow. It’s important to me to take things slower because the past few months have been so hectic. I want to make sure that we are able to all take a deep breath and make sure that we are completely ready for a relationship if and when a relationship happens,” I said and smiled at his parents, “I want to make sure that we are in the relationship for the right reasons. I don’t want it to be just because of the baby.”

“That’s very good and very responsible. How is the pregnancy going?” Tina asked.

“It’s going pretty good. We actually have two little girls. I miscarried one of them, but we are still going to give her a name. She’ll be able to look over her twin sister and us,” I said and smiled faintly with a sigh, “It’s just kind of hard because when you learn you’re going to be a mom, all you want to do is hold your child or children in your arms and protect them from everyone and everything. And I couldn’t even protect her when she was in my body.” I looked down as tears began to roll down my face.

Grant wrapped his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder gently, “Hey, C. It’s okay.”

“I failed as a mother. I failed before she could even know me,” I whispered as I began sobbing. I cried into Grant’s shoulder and almost immediately his mother got up and engulfed me in a hug.

“You didn’t fail as a mother, sweetheart,” Tina said softly, “You are an amazing mother to both of those little girls. You are the best mother they could get. Some things are just meant to be.”

I nodded and calmed down quite a bit, “Thank you… I’m sorry for being so emotional. I’ve kind of pushed the whole miscarriage to the back of my mind.”

Grant shook his head and wiped my tears away, “I think I can speak on behalf of everyone here and say that you have every right to be emotional. Don’t worry about apologizing, babe.”

I smiled and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, forgetting that his parents were right there, “I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you, too,” He said and smiled, kissing my forehead. Soon after our talk, his parents left for the airport to head back to Virginia. I cleaned the dishes and Grant took the dogs on a quick walk. When he returned, we decided to lay in his room and watch a movie.

Halfway through the movie, Grant had his arm over my waist while spooning me. I turned my neck to look at him and saw that he was asleep. I kissed his forehead and rolled over to face him. I got lost in thought as I watched him sleeping peacefully. I could hardly fathom how happy and lucky I was to have him. The past few months had been some of the scariest and craziest of my life. Having Grant around, even when he was still with LA, has been the one thing that kept me going. The love I had for this man felt like magic. I leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. I was never going to get over how good it felt to kiss him. Sure, I was able to kiss him on the show, but that was different. That was Barry and Iris. This was Candice and Grant. I was glad the conversation with his parents went well. I was terrified that they’d be so attached to LA that they’d hate me for ruining hers and Grant’s relationship. However, they were incredibly understanding of the situation. I guess they believed in following your heart and not your brain. Then again, Grant sort of did both.

It’d have been much easier for him to just forget about myself and the baby, but he left LA and chose me. Well, he chose the baby at least.

As I was sitting, deep in thought about the man I loved, he stirred away and smiled at me, “What’s on your mind, Ms. Patton?” He asked and leaned over, kissing my nose. I blushed and smiled, but then sighed.

“Did you leave LA for me or for the baby?” I asked and looked at him, my smile completely vanished.

Grant sighed and sat up, grabbing my hands, “Candice, I have been in love with you since our chemistry read. I have been in love with you since before I even knew that I was interested in you in that way. I was settling. I will admit that I left LA because I finally had a reason that made it necessary. I left her for you because of the baby,” He said and lifted my chin up, “You are the love of my love, Candice. I love you. I had to hide it for so long and I had to push thoughts like that away for so long, but you are the woman I am going to spend my life with. I know it.”

I smiled and wrapped my arms around him tightly, “I love you.” I whispered as tears rolled down my face, “I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you.” I pulled away from the hug and kissed him gently.

“Do you still want to take things slow?” He asked and looked at me, “I’m not asking that to pressure you. I just want to touch base with you and make sure you still want that.”

I shrugged and grabbed his hands, “I think we’ll figure it out along the way. I don’t want to rush into getting engaged or getting married. I want to feel everything out. I want to be able to, like I said, be sure that this is what I want and what I need.”

Grant looked slightly disappointed and I realized what I was saying, “Baby, listen. I love you. I want nothing more than to spend forever with you, but these past few months have been insane. I want to give everything some time to mellow out.” I placed my hand on his cheek, “I just want to protect my heart. If we rush into it and realize it’s not meant to be, it’ll hurt the both of us.”

Grant nodded and grabbed my face kissing me passionately. The kiss caught me off guard, but I quickly melted into him and rolled onto my back, pulling him on top of me. He began to slowly kiss down my neck before pulling my shirt, well, his shirt really, off of me and kissing down to my small bump. He kissed back up to my chest, giving each of my nipples attention. I tilted my head back and let out a pleasureful sigh. I lost myself in the moment and pleasure, only coming back down to earth when I felt Grant’s warm breath through my panties. I felt myself throbbing with need for him. Whether it be his mouth or more, I needed something from him.

“Let me know if you want me to stop,” He whispered. I nodded and gasped as he kissed my inner thighs, sucking on them gently.  _ I shouldn’t be letting him do this? We really should be taking it slow? But what’s the point if I am already having his child? We still shouldn’t be doing this. It gets in the way of our relationship. It gets in the way of taking things at a slower pace.  _ I was dragged out of my thoughts by the feeling of Grant’s thumb over my clit. He rubbed his thumb in a circular motion through my panties, still kissing my inner thighs.

I ran my fingers through his hair and moaned quietly. I looked down at Grant as he looked up toward me with a small smirk on his face. I barely had time to take in everything that was occurring before my panties were off and he was sucking on my clit. I threw my head back and gripped the sheets.

Grant sucked my clit into his mouth and flicked his tongue over it rapidly, causing me to shriek in pleasure. The attention he was giving my clit was driving me insane to the point he had to forcefully hold my hips down to keep me from jerking around too much. Grant licked up and down my wet folds before I felt his tongue at my entrance. Within seconds, he was exploring my insides with his tongue.

I could hardly contain myself at all anymore. I began to feel lightheaded as my body began trembling. I ran my fingers through his hair and pressed his face against my core as I very quickly approached my orgasm and came. Grant lapped up all of my juices and kissed back up my body before laying next to me.

I smiled over at him and kissed him gently, trying to catch my breath, “Wow… I do not remember that from our first time together.” I giggled and kissed his forehead as I began to come down from my high.

“You’re beautiful. Everything about you is absolutely stunning,” He whispered and kissed me passionately. I smiled into the kiss and ran my hand down his chest and abdomen. I kissed down to his shoulder and left sloppy, wet kisses all over his shoulder and neck. I continued downward with my hand and took Grant’s hard cock into it, stroking up and down slowly. Every few strokes, I tightened my grip slightly. Grant groaned into my ear and kissed my neck gently.

I smirked and sat up, pulling his boxers off of him and tossing them aside. I didn’t waste any time wrapping my lips around the head of his cock. I sucked gently, making sure not to stimulate him too much. I felt his fingers in my hair and smirked. I debated taking my time pleasuring him, but decided to take him by surprise and leave him in a state of shock. I quickly began deep throating him, grazing my teeth up and down his cock gentle enough not to hurt him and rough enough to add to the pleasure I was giving him. Moments later, he was gripping onto my hair tightly.

“Candice, baby…” He whispered breathlessly, “I’m going to cum.” I didn’t bother slowing down, I just kept going. It wasn’t much more than two seconds before I felt his cum filling my mouth and throat. I swallowed all of it before kissing back up to his lips.

“I definitely don’t remember that from our first time together,” I said and giggled, collapsing next to him. We laid together in silence for a while before beginning to dose off.

“I love you, Candice,” Grant whispered before closing his eyes and falling completely asleep.

I smiled and kissed his forehead, “I love you too, G.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So, this was my first time ever writing smut. I hope it wasn't horrible. But if it was, please cut a homegirl some slack. I have no clue what I am doing.


	7. Chapter 7

**GRANT'S POV**

I woke up in the morning with Candice asleep on my chest. I smiled and kissed her forehead, enjoying the peaceful quiet. As stressful as everything had been the past few months, I couldn’t be more grateful as I looked at Candice’s sleeping body. I didn’t have the words to express or explain how in love with her I was. This was the woman I wanted to spend my whole life waking up to. Everything came back to her. When I was happy, it was either because of her or I wanted to go to her and tell her about it. When I was worried, stressed, or scared, she was the person I wanted to turn to and talk to. And she was always there for me.

I watched her sleep peacefully as I lost myself in thought about our future. I thought about things like how and where I would propose, what I’d say, seeing her in a wedding dress, expanding our family. Was I getting too ahead of myself? Maybe. But I was beyond in love with this woman. There was no coming back from that. And I didn’t ever want to come back from that.

“Good morning, angel,” She whispered, drawing me out of my daze. I smiled and focused on the beautiful woman in my arms.

“Good morning, beautiful,” I said and smiled, kissing her gently. She kissed back and sat up, running her fingers through my hair. Taking it slow was very quickly becoming a challenge. Hell, it had been a challenge for quite a while.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” She asked and smiled down at me. I shrugged and sat up as well.

“Can I take you on a date tonight?” I asked and looked into her eyes. She bit her lip to seemingly try and hide her huge smile. She nodded slowly and giggled happily.

“Of course you can… It’s just… Do you we want to go public with everything so soon?” She whispered and sighed, “I kind of want to wait until I’m closer to being due. You know? It’d be best for us and best for the baby.”

I smiled and nodded, pulling her down next to me, “You know, there’s this girl I know… She has the most beautiful hair and skin. And her smile… it nearly kills me. And her eyes are the most beautiful eyes I have seen in my life. And when she combines that smile with those eyes… you might as well just plan my funeral.” Candice giggled and shook her head.

“I’m so in love with you,” She whispered, kissing me softly, “And that was incredibly cheesy.”

“Well, I just love you,” I said and smiled, kissing her deeply. She got up out of bed and went into my closet.

**CANDICE’S POV**

“So… I need to go back to my own place and get some of my clothes,” I looked over at Grant and he nodded, “Or just go back to my place…” I finished.

“What do you mean?” Grant asked and raised an eyebrow.

“I mean… We keep saying we are going to take things slow, but we aren’t. And me being here all the time isn’t going to help that,” I said and shrugged. He got up, grabbing a pair of shorts from his dresser and pulling them on.

He came over to me and grabbed my hands gently, “Why is it so important to you that we take it slow?”

“You can’t seriously be asking me that, Grant,” I said and pulled my hands away with a sigh.

“Well, I am, Candice. Why do we have to take it slow? We’re having a baby. And I am in love with you. Are you not in love with me?” He asked and sighed.

“Grant, you cheated on LA with me!” I shouted and felt tears threatening to spill, “How can I trust that you won’t just leave me for her once the baby is born? How can I trust that you won’t go and get her pregnant as well, or any other woman for that matter?”

“I love you! I’ve always loved you. Even when I was going to be marrying her, I loved you, Candice! I am in love with you. I was never in love with her,” Grant said in a hushed, pleading tone.

“I don’t want to be with you right now. I don’t want to commit to you if I don’t know that we are ready. I don’t want us to make promises we can’t keep,” I whispered and shrugged as tears fell down my face.

Truthfully, I wanted to run off and marry him at that exact instant, but I saw how he hurt LA. As much as everything between he and I felt right and meant to be, I couldn’t trust that I wouldn’t be hurt in the same way.

Grant wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead, “I love you. I respect your wants and your needs. I’ll wait for you to be ready.”

I pulled away from the hug and nodded, “You need to be ready as well. You’re not. You want to be, but I can tell how emotionally and mentally exhausted you are.”

“I’m fine, babe. I am. I just want you to be okay. I want you to be ready. I want to love you forever,” He said softly.

“I am okay. I just want to take time to trust you. I am ready, honestly. I’m just scared. I don’t want to commit to you and get hurt.” I said and shrugged.

“You can trust me,” He said and sighed, “You keep acting like I wasn’t on a break from my relationship with LA. You keep acting like I am the only person who made this baby.”

“Grant, just let it go,” I said and rolled my eyes, stepping away from him to grab my bag.

“I won’t just let it go, Candice. Do you even want to be with me? I can easily go and fix things with LA if you’re just going to lie to me and waste my time,” Grant said, raising his voice.

“You know what?” I said and turned around to look at him, “You do that. You go fix things with her. Honestly, I don’t even care anymore. I thought maybe we could work things out and give our daughter a happy family. I can do that without you though.” I walked past him, trying not to start crying again. Whenever Grant was hurt or upset, he didn’t think about what he said. I did, but once he said something hurtful, I couldn’t anymore.

“Candice, no, wait,” Grant shouted across the apartment. I was now by the door and he quickly met me there, “I love you.”

“I don’t care,” I said and shook my head, “Just leave me alone.” I stormed out of the apartment and took the elevator down to the lobby. I got an Uber back to my own place. I went up to my penthouse apartment and made my way to my room. I laid down with a sigh. I didn’t know what to think anymore.

I grabbed my phone from my purse and texted Grant.

 **C** : _Hey… We need to talk I think._

 **G** : _You think?_

 **C** : _I don’t mean about today. I mean in general. I don’t really know what we are or where we stand, but I think I know what we should be._

 **G** : _Do you want me to come over? Or we can meet up somewhere?_

 **C** : _You can come over if that works for you._

 **G** : _Alright, I’ll be on my way._

**GRANT’S POV**

I put my phone in my pocket and left my apartment. I took the elevator down to the garage, getting my car and beginning the drive to Candice’s house. I felt horrible. I had a feeling this talk wouldn’t be anywhere near a happy one.

I got to Candice’s apartment building and made my way up to her apartment. I knocked on the door and she opened it with a sad smile.

“Hey, listen, I-,” I said, but she cut me off.

“Grant, listen, you don’t even have to come inside for this honestly. I just need to say this and please don’t try and change my mind,” She said sadly and gulped before continuing, “I don’t want to pursue a relationship with you. I think it would be too toxic. Our relationship as it is started out in a terrible place and in a terrible way and I don’t think we’d make it through a life together without therapists and counseling.”

I ran my hands through my hair and sighed, “Baby, please. I’ll give you the time and space. I love you. Please.”

Candice shook her head as tears rolled down her face, “I don’t have a choice.”

“You do. You do have a choice. Candice, please,” I said and grabbed her hands.

“No, I don’t have a choice. This is what is best for me and for the baby. I need you to respect that,” Candice whispered and pulled her hands away, “I’m sorry.”

I shook my head and sighed, “No, I’m sorry.” I sighed and turned around, leaving the apartment building. I started my drive home in silence as tears poured down my face. I made a sudden decision not to go home. I turned down a different street and soon enough pulled into a small driveway.

I slowly made my way up to the door. I hesitated before ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door opened and I was greeted with yet another sad smile.

“Grant, what are you doing here?” LA asked, “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I know I have no right being here, but I just need you. I need a hug or something. I just need to be around something familiar,” I whispered and sighed.

“My parents are here and they certainly do not want to see you and quite honestly, neither do I,” She said in a hushed tone.

“LA, please. We can go somewhere else. I need you right now,” I said and grabbed her hand gently, “Please.”  
“Fine, but I want to be home within an hour,” she said and walked to my car. I followed behind her and got in, backing out of the driveway and driving off. I pulled into a parking lot of a park.

“Listen, I just wanted to apologize for everything. I just miss you and I love you,” I said and looked over at LA.

“Grant… Just last week you were telling me you are in love with Candice,” She said softly, “I love you, but I can’t go through all of this again. I can’t deal with you changing your mind.”

“Maybe I was just in love with the idea of having a family,” I said and shrugged, “I miss you and I love you. And I want to try to fix things with you. We can take things slow.”

“Let me think about it, okay?” She asked and placed her hand on mine. I nodded and kissed her forehead. Maybe I was settling, but I had security with LA.

LA smiled up at me and kissed me softly. I placed my hands on the side of her face, deepening the kiss.

She pulled away and smiled, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said and smiled lightly. I realized that it didn’t matter how much security I had. I just wanted to be with Candice. But I fucked that up.

I dropped LA off at her house before driving back home. I got up to my apartment and opened the door to find Candice asleep on the couch. I shut the door a little too hard and she stirred awake.

“I’m sorry… I just felt alone and scared. I don’t know why I felt scared. I guess you’ve just been my rock throughout the past few weeks,” She said and sighed. I shook my head and walked into the living room slowly.

“Don’t apologize, it’s okay. You’re always welcome here,” I said and smiled softly, “I can go clean up the guest bedroom for you real quick.”

As soon as I said those words, I could see a look of disappointment spread throughout her face. I was in for a long night.


	8. Chapter 8

CANDICE’S POV

I sighed as I watched Grant walk to the guest room. I didn’t want to sleep in the guest room. As far as our relationship went, I didn’t know what I wanted. All I knew was that I felt safe and happy in his arms. I wanted to sleep in his room.

Grant walked back into the living room a few minutes later, “It’s all set up. You can make yourself at home.” I nodded and smiled faintly, heading to the room. I got changed into an oversized t-shirt and got ready for bed. I had screwed everything up. Everything was falling apart around me and all I wanted was Grant. Everything came back to him. How else would I have ended up back at his apartment?  
I was laying in bed for quite a while, but couldn’t sleep at all. I looked over at the alarm clock on the bedside table and saw that it was about 1:45 in the morning. I tossed and turned for another half hour before getting up and going down the hall. I knocked on Grant’s door and opened it slowly, finding him as awake as I was.

“Can I lay with you?” I asked quietly. He nodded his head and moved over, lifting the blanket up for me. I smiled lightly and made my way over to his bed, laying next to him. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him, kissing the back of my neck softly.

“I love you,” He whispered. I smiled and placed my hand on top of his hand.

“I love you,” I whispered back. I felt safe and happy and secure. I knew without a doubt that this was where I belonged. This is where I was at home. I started to drift into a peaceful sleep as Grant continued to press gentle kisses to my shoulder and neck.

I woke up in the morning and Grant was out on his balcony on the phone. I walked toward the doorway to the balcony and leaned against it.

“I’m sorry…” He said into the phone and hung up before turning around. I raised an eyebrow and his face turned bright red as his eyes met mine.

“What was that about?” I asked. He looked like a toddler who had just stolen cookies out of the cookie jar.   
“Listen, I made a mistake yesterday. And you’re going to hate me for it,” He said and sighed. I knew exactly what he was getting at.

“You went back to LA, didn’t you?” I asked and sighed. I couldn’t even really be mad at him. I’m the one who practically forced him to.

Grant sighed and sat down in a patio chair, “I did. But I only did because I thought that I’d lost you. And maybe I still have lost you. I just needed someone and I needed to fill a void. I just told her I really need to focus on you and the baby. She understands.”

“Babe, you can’t keep hurting her,” Candice said and sighed, “She doesn’t deserve that.” Grant nodded and held his face in his hands. I frowned and walked over to him, rubbing his back gently, kneeling down in front of him and grabbing his hands, “Listen to me, I don’t hate you and I’m not mad at you. Yesterday was a messy day and you running back to LA was partially my fault.”

“I just want everything to be simple. It’s all so complicated,” Grant whispered and shook his head.

“Well… I was thinking yesterday and maybe we can go stay in Texas or Virginia until filming starts back up,” I suggested and lifted his chin so that he was looking at me, “We can make things simpler. We can leave LA out of the picture completely until the baby is born and maybe even after that if you want. You need time to move on and heal. She isn’t the only one hurting. The circumstances of the break up don’t mean that you can’t hurt. You are allowed to feel, baby.”

Grant looked at me and smiled, “You… You are everything to me. I love you so much, Candice Patton.”

“Well, I love you so much more, Grant Gustin,” I said and chuckled, kissing his nose gently. He pulled me down onto his lap and placed a hand over my belly. He leaned down and lifted my shirt, kissing my bump softly.

“Hey there, little princess. I can’t wait for you to be here. I love you and mommy more than anyone or anything in the entire universe. You’re my girls,” He said, causing me to giggle. I couldn’t wait for her to be here and for us to spend time with our little angel. I was so excited for Grant to be a dad. He had the biggest heart and the most love to give. He looked up at me as I giggled and then looked back at my belly, “And I think that mommy thinks that I’m weird for talking to you through her belly, but she’s just jealous that you and I are best friends.”

“Not true!” I shouted dramatically and giggled, “I am not jealous because she is my best friend.”

“She was my best friend first,” Grant said and smiled obnoxiously at me.

I shook my head and kissed Grant softly, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” He said and smiled at me, “Also, we should look into staying with one of our families. I haven’t met your family yet.”

“My family would love to meet you! I can call my mom and ask about us staying with her,” I said and got up to go get my phone. Grant followed behind me and I sat on the bed and called my mom.

Halfway through the first ring, she picked up, “Candice! How are you? What’s up?”

“So… um… There’s a lot going on back home and I was wondering if my friend and I could come stay with you until filming starts up again?” I asked nervously. I hadn’t told her about everything going on yet, so I had to lie a little bit.

“Of course you can! That shouldn’t be a question,” She answered and I felt relieved, “When will you be getting here?”

“Probably late this evening. Can you pick us up from the airport?” I responded as I got up to help Grant pack some of his stuff.

“Definitely! I’ll see you later!” She said happily and hung up.

I went into Grant’s closet and grabbed some shirts for him, “Hey, G, can we talk after we’re done packing?” I asked and looked over at him. He nodded his head and we quickly finished. We went down to the living room and sat on the couch.

“What do you want to talk about?” Grant asked and smiled over at me.

“Us,” I said and smiled back, shrugging slightly.

Grant nodded and grabbed my hand, “I’m willing to respect you wanting to take things slow. I get it. I really do.”

“I appreciate that,” I said and squeezed his hand, “But I have realized that us being together now isn’t going to be any different than a month or two from now. All that taking it slow will do is create more issues and honestly, I don’t care what the future brings. I just want to go through it all with you by my side. I know we can get through it together. Because something tells me that we are meant to be together.”

Grant smiled happily and kissed me passionately. I kissed back and grabbed his face gently. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him, “Well then, I guess I should ask you something. Will you be my girlfriend? I promise I’ll give you lots of cuddles and kisses and wine after you bring our beautiful daughter into the world. I’ll also buy you lots of puppies.”

“How could I say no to lots of puppies?” I asked and giggled, “I’d love to officially be your girlfriend.” I kissed him gently and smiled happily at him, “I love you, Grant.”

“I love you, too, Candice,” He said and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I smiled up at him as I felt tears forming in my eyes. A tear rolled down my face and he used his thumb wiped it away gently, “Why the tears?”

“I don’t know. I’m just really happy. And pregnant. Baby emotions are getting the best of me,” I said and laughed lightly, “I really am happy, G. I love you so so much. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us and our little one.”

“I’m so incredibly in love with you,” He said and smiled, kissing my forehead.

“We should pack. I’ll order the plane tickets and you can pack and we can head to the airport.” I said and got up, going into Grant’s room and grabbing his iPad. I spent a bit looking for a flight before purchasing the tickets. By the time I had purchased them, Grant had packed some of his stuff and the stuff I’d had in the guest room.

We made our way to the airport and through security. I sat down on a chair by our gate and sighed, “My bump is getting bigger and harder to hide. Especially when we’re at LAX.”

“Once we are in Texas, we’ll stay low-key until you are ready to go public about the pregnancy,” Grant said and smiled, grabbing my hand, “Only a plane ride and a car ride until you don’t have to worry about hiding anymore.”

———

I woke up to Grant, tugging at my arm, “C, baby, wake up please.”

I opened my eyes and realized that everyone on our flight had gotten off of the plane except for us. Grant helped me up and grabbed our carry on bags. We made our way off of the plane and to the baggage claim. Grant still insisted upon grabbing our bags.

“Seriously, Grant, I can handle my own bags,” I said and sighed, grabbing my suitcase from him. He shook his head and grabbed the bag from me.

“I know you can, but I also know that the doctor told us to be extra careful during your pregnancy. I don’t want you or the baby put in danger,” He said and kissed my forehead. I smiled lightly and nodded. We walked out of the airport and found my mom waiting for us. She got out of the car and ran over to hug me. I hugged her lightly and Grant set our bags in the car.

“So this is the friend you were bringing with!” My mom said excitedly, “How are you?” She asked Grant, “I heard you’re newly married?”

“Uh… not quite yet,” Grant said and chuckled nervously.

“Well, I wish you the very best once you are!” She said and smiled, getting into the car. Grant and I got into the backseat and she began driving us to her house. We arrived and carried our stuff to a guest bedroom before going and sitting in the kitchen with my mom.

She was busy telling us all about everything that’d been going on in Texas and such. I wasn’t paying much attention. I just smiled and nodded, as did Grant. Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore and had to say something.

“Mom, can we talk?” I asked nervously. She seemed to quickly pick up on the change in my mood and nodded, walking over and sitting at a chair across the table from us.

“What’s up, Candice?” She asked, her voice full of concern.

“Grant is not getting married. Not yet and not to LA whenever he does,” I said softly.

“Okay… Why can’t Grant tell me that? I don’t really think that that is your business to tell me,” My mom said and raised an eyebrow, clearly confused.

“Well, it kind of is my business actually. Mom, I’m pregnant,” I whispered and looked down at my hands.

“You’re… Candice, what do you mean? You two…?” She asked as her face paled.

“It was a drunken accident, but we’re figuring things out. And I’m scared and I just want you to support me and be here for me,” I whispered as tears rolled down my face.

“Tell me everything please,” She said softly, her blank facial expression not even remotely changing.

I looked at Grant and he took a deep breath, “We uh… had a drunken night together and then a few months later, found out she was pregnant. That was about three months ago. Candice is now about six months along. And about a month ago, at my rehearsal dinner for the wedding, I hadn’t yet canceled because I hadn’t yet told LA about the baby, LA found out and attacked Candice…” Grant bit his lip and I could see tears forming in his eyes, “We found out that night we were supposed to have twins. But Candice miscarried…”

“And for reasons unrelated to what happened with LA. What happened with LA wasn’t even that horrible,” I whispered as tears continued to stream down my face, “Anyway, Grant broke up with LA that night and we flew to LA and the past month-ish, I have been staying there. But people are going to start to notice something is up, so we decided to come somewhere where we can build a relationship and have this baby in privacy and off the radar.”

My mom stared at us with wide eyes and nodded slowly, “I’m disappointed in the two of you for the circumstances involving Grant’s relationship, but I trust Candice to have good instinct. If your instinct is telling you that everything with Grant is right, then follow your instinct and I will support you. And I will spoil the hell out of that grand-baby of mine.”


	9. Chapter 9

Grant and I spent the next few months preparing for the baby to be born. We called the producers and talked to them about what was going on and were able to get a larger, shared apartment in Vancouver. I was excited, but also incredibly nervous and terrified. Things were moving sort of quick between Grant and me, but also sort of slow. Rather than building up a relationship, we were learning how to make a relationship work.

We were sitting in the living room with my mom one night, watching a movie. We had my niece and nephew over for the night and they chose to watch Coco. I had been having what I was assuming were braxton hicks throughout the day. They weren’t too painful so I wasn’t thinking anything of it. Grant and I got up to make some popcorn. As we were waiting in the kitchen for the popcorn to finish popping, the false contractions were starting to get worse.

“You feeling alright? I can handle the kiddos with your mom if you want to go lay down,” Grant said and smiled, placing a hand over my bump and rubbing it gently with his thumb. He leaned down and kissed my belly, “You better be being nice to your mommy.”

I chuckled and shook my head, but couldn’t help wincing as well, “I’ll be fine. This is normal. And I want to spend time with my family,” I said and put on a fake, but effective smile. Grant nodded and grabbed the popcorn from the microwave and putting it into a bowl. He threw the popcorn bag away and we made our way back into the living room.

We sat back on the couch and my niece crawled into Grant’s lap, “Hey! That’s my spot!” I said and pouted, holding back giggles.

“No! My spot!” She shouted back and broke into a fit of giggles. I picked her up and quickly sat in Grant’s lap, letting her sit in my lap as much as she could, “Baby stole my spot,” She said and pouted before poking my belly with a giggle. She looked up at me and pouted.

“Fine,” I said and picked her up with a giggle. I stood up, about to put her in Grant’s lap, but stopped in my tracks when I felt a rush of water go down my legs. I looked at Grant in horror and handed my niece to him, “Water broke.” I whispered.

Grant’s eyes widened and he passed my niece off to my mom who instantly stood up to get everyone ready to go. Grant rushed upstairs and grabbed me a change of clothes for on the way to the hospital and on the way home. He helped me change into one of the outfits and we got out to the car. My mom waited for my brother to come get my niece and nephew before getting into the driver’s seat and driving us to the hospital.

“Remember the plan?” I asked Grant as he was making me do my breathing exercises. In for 10. Hold. Out for 10. In for 10. Hold. Out for 10. In for 10. Hold. Out for 10.

“The plan?” Grant questioned. I reached into my bag and handed him a hoodie and sunglasses, putting on my own hoodie and sunglasses.

“The plan…” I repeated and chuckled. He laughed lightly and kissed my forehead. As we got closer to the hospital, I started getting really nervous. I was terrified. I wanted to just turn around and go home or go back in time. Part of me wished I didn’t go to Grant’s apartment with him that night. I wanted to be a mom and was excited about having a baby, but I was afraid at the same time.

We arrived at the hospital and my mom dropped us off before going to park the car. Grant helped me walk into the hospital as my contractions were worsening. I got into a wheelchair and we went over to the receptionist.

“My girlfriend is in labor,” Grant said frantically. He wasn’t nervous at all. That calmed me down a bit. He was so excited for our daughter to be born and to be there for the both of us.

“Full name?” The receptionist asked.

“Candice Kristina Patton,” I said quickly, wincing as a felt another contraction coming on. The receptionist nodded as she typed on her computer. After about thirty seconds, she called back for a nurse. Within a few moments that felt like hours of agonizing pain from yet another contraction, we were getting settled into a room. Grant sat next to me and held my hand gently, pressing soft kisses to my forehead.

“I don’t say this nearly enough, but I am incredibly proud of you. You’re the strongest person I know,” He said and smiled softly at me. I sighed and winced again as I felt another contraction.

“I know. You don’t think I know that I’m strong as I am laying here about to give birth to your damn kid?” I said and rolled my eyes.

Grant sighed and stood up, “I’m sorry,” He said shyly and sat across the room. I sighed and started crying.

“I wanna hold your hand,” I whispered as tears rolled down my face, “I’m sorry.”

“Baby?” He asked and raised an eyebrow before walking over to me.

“I’m just scared and nervous and in pain and tired and just really really scared.”

“Scared? Baby, don’t be scared. Everything will go perfectly. In a few hours, we’ll have our little girl in the world.”

“And what if we don’t?” I whispered as new tears formed in my eyes and quickly rolled down my cheeks. Grant frowned and wiped them away as I continued talking, “What if something happens?”

“Nothing is going to happen. Okay?” He whispered and brushed my hair out of my face, “I’m here and your family is here. Everything is going to go smoothly. And we’ll have our healthy little girl.”

I nodded my head and kissed him gently, “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.”

The next few hours went by painfully, but smoothly. Before we knew It, I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing. I held onto Grant’s hand and my mother’s hand and started to push as the doctor counted to ten. After the first push, I collapsed back down onto the bed, starting to cry.

“Candice, you got this. A few more pushes and she’s here,” Grant whispered and left a few small kisses on my cheek and forehead. I nodded and took a deep breath as I prepared myself to push again. The second push was even more painful, but I forgot about all of the pain when I heard our daughter’s cries filling the room. The doctor immediately placed her on my chest.

I held her tiny body against my bare chest as I began crying again, this time out of happiness, “Hi, beautiful girl. I’m your mama. You are so beautiful.” I looked up at Grant and he had tears rolling down his face in a steady stream. I smiled up at him, “She’s here.”

“She’s gorgeous. And looks nothing like me.” He said and chuckled, “But I am not complaining at all. My girls are the two most beautiful girls in the universe.”

“If you guys are okay with it, we need to clean your precious angel up and make sure she’s healthy. It shouldn’t take too long,” The nurse said and smiled. I nodded and handed our little one off to the nurse.

About five minutes later, she was back in my arms, all swaddled up in the pale yellow blanket we’d picked out for her. She truly did look like me. She had my skin tone, my eyes, my face shape. But then there was her lighter hair and that smile. That smile will forever melt my heart.

“She has your smile for sure. With my lips.” I said and giggled up at Grant, “Are we sticking with the name we chose.”

“Mireya Grace Gustin,” Grant said and smiled, “It’s perfect for our little miracle.”

“Nevaeh Angelina for our guardian angel…” I whispered and sighed sadly. It was truly bittersweet getting to hold Mireya. I held her close to my face and kissed her cheek softly. It made me the happiest person alive to be able to hold her in my arms, but I wanted so badly to be able to hold Nevaeh.

Grant leaned down and kissed both of our foreheads, “I can tell how much she loves you already. You are going to be an amazing mother. You already are.”

I looked up at him and kissed him gently, “You are the most amazing man I have ever met.”

“Does that mean I get to have a turn holding our daughter?” He asked and held his hands out. I nodded my head and passed her to him. His eyes instantly lit up as tears formed in his eyes. I knew for sure, in that moment, that this was how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. Grant sat next to me on the hospital bed. I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.

“She’s so perfect,” I whispered, “So beautiful and so healthy and so perfect.” I reached over and grabbed her hand between my thumb and pointer finger, “And so tiny.”

“Well, you’re her mom, so…” He said and gave me an evil grin to which I responded by slapping his arm.

“Stop picking on me! It’s not my fault I’m short!” I said and pouted while giggling. Grant chuckled and kissed my cheek.

“For the record, I love your shortness,” He said and smiled, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said and smiled at him, pecking his lips gently.

Grant and I stayed at the hospital overnight and were able to take Mireya home in the morning. Now, all we had to do was prepare to go back to Vancouver in a month. I was taking the first four weeks of my maternity leave in Texas and the last two in Vancouver.


End file.
